Hector Bravo UNHINGED
Official Hector Bravo Podcast
Hector Bravo UNHINGED
War is a Drug: Life Lessons from Army Ranger - Angel Cortez
Angel Cortez shares his incredible journey from growing up in Southern California as the first American-born in his Mexican immigrant family to becoming an Army Ranger and eventually founding a tactical training company.
• Being raised in low-income neighborhoods around Orange County while skateboarding provided community during frequent moves
• Experiencing 9/11 as a sixth-grader and feeling an immediate call to military service
• Enlisting at 17 as a Combat Engineer specifically to counter the IEDs killing American soldiers
• Deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan where he hunted for IEDs and experienced intense combat situations
• Working with Special Forces in Afghanistan living in a compound in hostile territory facing daily attacks
• Surviving a devastating suicide bomber attack that wounded dozens of Americans
• Completing rigorous Ranger training and earning his tab despite multiple challenges
• Transitioning to civilian life and starting Defense Strategies Group to train military, law enforcement and civilians
• Balancing tactical preparedness with enjoying life and raising children with accountability
• Running OG Pumpkin, which supports veteran and low-income community programs
Visit Defense Strategies Group in Beverly Hills for training in firearms, combatives, and self-defense skills. Follow Angel's community work at @the_OG_pumpkin on Instagram.
Hector Bravo, unhinged chaos is now in session.
Speaker 2:Welcome back to our channel, warriors, we are still growing. Today, another banger for you guys. Man, I have none other than Angel Cortez. You guys might have seen him on Ed Calderon's podcast, ed manifesto's podcast, former ranger, business owner, skater, father man and, most best of all, he's from southern california. So here he is. What up, angel, what's up my dude? Thank you for having me here. Thanks for coming, bro. I gotta give you that shout out for socal man no, yeah, yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1:Um, I don't know how the connection happened, but but I'm glad it happened and that's the power, the power of the internet and social media in general.
Speaker 2:Yeah, bro, the networking, yeah, and with like-minded individuals.
Speaker 1:Yep, yes, and earlier we were talking I was already having a good time and, bro, it's something about SoCal, something about shared experiences. It just makes the connection better. Sometimes I go do a podcast and I know they want to hear the story and a lot of the stuff that I'm saying that maybe they've never even heard it or they don't understand it, and it's like, okay, finally I got somebody here who oh, bro, I got.
Speaker 2:We speak the same language, dude. Yes, sir, so where did you grow up at?
Speaker 1:uh, here in southern california. So my family came my family's from Puebla. They came here and I'm the first one in my family to be born in the US. So when we first got here we were in Westminster, so Orange County.
Speaker 1:Yeah, OC and then after a while we moved to like Garden Grove and then Garden Grove to Delano, delano back to Garden Grove, and then my parents split and then I was either spending a lot of time in Santa Ana ana because for people that don't know santa ana's uh, very mexican, you know people say little mexico and and so obviously you spend a lot of time in santa ana and garden grove, but all in general, orange county how old were you when your parents split?
Speaker 2:oh man, young um in elementary, maybe five, six, seven I asked that because my wife and I currently split, not too long ago, so I want to make sure my daughter is going to be all right and clearly you turned out all right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's um, you know, uh, so I'm the second oldest. And then, um, you know, uh. Growing up you always hear, hey, we're here to better have. You know, this is the best country ever, right, we came here to, you can live a better life than us. And and you're hearing all this growing up the entire time. And then you know you're like, oh my, I get it, mom is a dinner. You tell me again for the time.
Speaker 2:Nah, that's good bro.
Speaker 1:That's is in Spanish Novelas or what yeah a bunch of novelas freaking Telemundo Primero Impacto, all that you know they have the hot ass fucking weather.
Speaker 2:ladies, bro, yeah they do See.
Speaker 1:and the thing is, the Americans are barely catching up to that, because now you got Fox.
Speaker 2:Fox News has all those little you know short skirt news reporters but they don't know that that freaking mexicans were on that game a long time ago, 80s or some shit, yeah, and ultimately, where you said santa ana or the oc is where you, yeah, resided, yep, and what? When did you get into skateboarding, dude?
Speaker 1:um, I got into skateboarding because, uh, like the x games, right. So when I had, when I go to my cousin's house, um, they had cable and I would see, you know, espn x games. I'd be like, oh shit, you guys are skating. And then you would see the skaters around and so I always wanted to skate. But I actually didn't start skating until I was 12, uh, because, you know, we were poor, we didn't have fucking skateboards, yeah. And then my first actual boards were actually hand-me-downs for my cousins right, right.
Speaker 2:What did you like watching the vert skating the half pipes or the street skating the street On the X?
Speaker 1:Games, but the thing is they wouldn't show too much street Like nowadays. You got the Olympics and they have the street setups, right, but back in the day everything was Tony Hawk, tony Hawk did. You had Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1, 2. And every now and then they showed uh, skate stuff, and then, and then people these young folks don't know, but back in the day if you missed the, the street skating, you can never see it again correct.
Speaker 2:Oh, because there's no dvr, no, dvr, no yeah.
Speaker 1:So you're like oh fuck, I missed it. And then you're like okay well, I guess I'm watching vert um what are you? Regular goofy sense goofy, no way dude you fucking push mongrel too no no, no, no, I don't do that, I did.
Speaker 2:Don't trip no. So all you skaters will understand what this lingo is. Yeah, so skating at 12, growing up there in that location, were you observing shit going on like gangs?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, because we were poor. So in low income communities comes crime, drugs, violence and all that, you know, alcoholism and all that, and so I would see the gang members and and your kids. So you don't, you don't mind, you know, you're like, they're like, oh, whatever, every now and then, yeah, you see them if they were fighting each other or blasting music, or some of them had nice cars, but like you don't pay attention to them and they don't really pay attention to you yeah, they kind of let you wiggle and you're doing their thing, you're doing your thing.
Speaker 2:Yep, was it a big group of friends or a tight group of skating that you would skate with?
Speaker 1:um, no, man, because we moved. We kind of moved a lot, um, but within it's funny. Within we moved a lot, but within the same general area. So it wasn't like, oh, I would hang out, I would make friends right away with some apartment complex and then we'd move and and then. But you would find the skaters eventually. So that's one thing I like about skateboarding is that you can hear somebody skate and then you'll skate, and then, especially when you're kids, and all of a sudden you're like, hey man yeah you want to skate and you're like boom, boom done.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a community man and we'll fast forward to the military later on. It's the same tight-knit group of camaraderie.
Speaker 1:Yeah, not to mention back then, skateboarding wasn't how it was looked now.
Speaker 2:Oh, now it's mainstream dude.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's mainstream, it's on the Olympics. But back then, bro, you used to be you know a piece of shit you were. You were getting tickets, whether you were getting harassed, you know you were a criminal. Bro, skateboarding is not a crime. Yeah, yeah, there was that shirt and I had that shirt.
Speaker 1:Skateboarding is not a crime because, bro, they would treat you like a fucking criminal so earlier we were talking you said your mother was very religious, yeah, and you wanted to get a skateboard that had a knight on there and she believed it was devil it was a devil, yeah, because, um, so that was a santa fe swami, where, where you know, there's a, some skateboards and I'm like, oh man, I want a dark star skateboard because dark star is my favorite company and they had these knights that were slaying these demons. But the knights didn't look nice and friendly, they looked hardcore and tough and like freaking, you know, um strong and all that, and my mom's like no, the diablo. And then, and then it was a zero board with the cross. Yeah, and she goes, I'll get you that one. And I was like fuck yeah where were you when 9-11 happened?
Speaker 1:bro. Um, so my mom even though we moved a lot, my mom tried her best to, uh, keep us in the same school and my grandparents basically lived in the same apartment complex for a long long time. So we had this routine we would wake up around five, get ready, walk to the nearest main street that we can take the bus directly to my grandma's apartment, walk a little bit and then my mom would go to work and then we would stay there until school started, and so the first plane hit around like 8.50,. Right, so most people aren't awake in the West Coast if you're a kid, right, but we were. Because of that routine, and at that I remember that day. Um, my mom had a van that she borrowed, so, but we still just stayed, woke up, that same time.
Speaker 1:So I remember, as we're driving in this van, when there's no seats, there's no seats in the van there's no seats in the van dude, no, so we were all.
Speaker 1:It was a little ford, astro van, the little mini one, no seats in the back, and then there wasn't even a stereo. So she had a radio that you put batteries in and I remember hearing it on the on the radio and I was like I was like oh man, that sounds like a cool movie. Because what people don't know is that back in the day they used to do radio promos.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You know, like you know this summer, yeah, uh, you know, like you know, this summer coming, you know, and and so I was like, oh, this is like, oh, this is like a promo to a movie. It sounds kind of cool. And then she like turned it up. And then, when the way she turned it up, I was like is this? I don't think this is a fucking yeah uh, promo.
Speaker 1:I think this might be real. And then she hur hurried us up to my grandma's apartment and then they were already all around the TV and that's when I realized like, oh, this is for real.
Speaker 2:What were you in junior high? No, sixth grade. Sixth grade, dude, yeah, sixth grade. Do you remember if you felt anything?
Speaker 1:Yeah, man, I remember feeling like a little nervous, a little scared, but I remember I felt like, even though it was early, I was a really young age and based on my upbringing I'd matured and seen a lot of things more than your sixth grader at that time. I remember that meant we were going to go to war.
Speaker 2:You remember thinking that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was like we were going to go to war. You remember thinking that, yeah, I was like we're going to war and I remember being like I felt bad because I felt like I was going to miss the war. So you remember feeling that at six years old, well, sixth grade or sixth grade, yeah, yeah, because growing up, you know, my mom was my mom. We were poor. So she, you know, signed up for every federal and state program that we ever could to get food.
Speaker 1:So I was born and raised on food stamps yeah so being told that, hey, this is the best country ever, this has helped us look what they do, and all this and that, and, and so you know the way I saw it was like man, this country that's been taking care of my, my brothers and sisters and I, is in trouble and I can't do shit about it we were talking about this type of stuff like calling, like the feeling that call for duty, yeah, and all obligation, that moral obligation, and I'm I'm gonna try to like pry it out of you because this I'm learning, bro.
Speaker 2:I'm like damn, I didn't realize that that sense of of a man or selfless service starts at that young age, dude yeah, I mean, well, to be honest, this, this country, overall, we're, we're coddled.
Speaker 1:You go to other countries, those who are junior high age kids. You know they're already, that's already implemented in their heads, right? Yeah, you got, you got kids who who are already shooting, who are already probably even fought, or they're fighting, right or?
Speaker 2:their dad was a fighter and their dad tells them about the war because there may not be any wars here, but there's always been wars all over the world, do you?
Speaker 1:believe, for with all of your experience, that wars are necessary. Um, it's not that they're necessary, it's just you can call it human nature. But I don't know any moment, uh, on that, and this planet's been around that there's not been war, correct, whether here in europe and asia, middle east, you name it, there's always been something, even if it's not with countries, the, the, the indians were slaughtering each other. Um, you go to, you know, latin america, those people were slaughtering each other. So it's like I don't, I don't if it were, look, I got kids, man, if it were up to me, um, all the nukes will go away, all the, the, the missiles and the rifles will go away. But that's not reality. And because that's not reality, I now, I now prepare myself, my family, my kids, for the world, what it is you mentioned you have kids.
Speaker 2:Yeah, do you, and I'm sure I know the answer to this. Would you rather fight wars instead of your children? I would.
Speaker 1:I would fight a war instead of my child. Like I got a boy right, a boy and two girls, and it's like the fact that even I, it's a possibility that my son might fucking fight. I'm like, fuck man, I was telling my wife and alia, I was telling alia, I was like, if, if, if aj joins, I'm gonna join back up. I'm like I can't sit around and watch my son go fucking fight when I still have the ability to to go fight, because there's that meme that's going around that it was born too late or born born too early or not born too late to fight in the middle east. Born at the right, at the, at the, born just in time to fight the middle east, uh, born too late to fight. So basically, every single time you're fighting the middle east which is kind of true because you got the gulf war, you got iraq, um, and then and then now you have the situation now so it's like afghanistan, afghanistan, syria and so syria.
Speaker 1:So you, you're like, yeah, I mean, we've always been fighting. You got grandpa stuff I can went to the middle east. I went to the middle east. Now you're telling me my son might fucking go. What year did you enlist into the army? Uh, 2008. And then I was in from 2008 to 2016. How old were you when you?
Speaker 2:enlisted 17.
Speaker 1:Holy shit, bro, you're like the little brother I never had man, and I mean that in a good way yeah, fucking, you know, because I I by that point you know I was already causing trouble, I, I was already a gang member. Um, I, I've gone out gang member.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's news to me, dude yeah, man, I was a gang member, um, and and and, but. But I already gone out of the gang and and and I was like you know what, um, I've always wanted to freaking because I? I became a gang member because I was seeking something. Obviously, at the time I didn't know, but I was seeking brotherhood, I was seeking love, I was seeking a community Right. And they weren't it, man. And growing up I'd always admired military dudes.
Speaker 2:And you said they're not it. It's not because they're bad people, it's because they're misguided or uneducated and misguided yeah, 100.
Speaker 1:Some of them are cool, but some of them weren't, um, and, and I was. And then that's when I realized what I was really seeking is what the military had to offer, because and that's why I had such attraction to military movies growing up, but I always watch, I would be in my friend's house and any national geographic documentary on the, on anything, whether it was old, current, I was, I would just watch and it was like because that's what I wanted, because these dudes were protecting each other, right, they loved each other. They would, fucking, you know, die for you and and and I'm like and I didn't have that in my, in my life I think that's hardwired in men, bro, not like looking for that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what you just explained yeah did you join the delayed entry program, like did you join in high school and then you signed the contract and then you had to wait?
Speaker 1:no, I, um, I was like man, I want to join, I'm 17, um, and I went to the recruiting station and and at that point I'd already seen that ieds were like the number one thing, killing soldiers oh, let me back that shit up, bro.
Speaker 2:So I was in iraq in 04. Yeah, what? What from your vantage point? What were you observing on the news um?
Speaker 1:well, none. Well, you or what were you aware of? Well, not really the news. It was a national geographic had a few documentaries and I would watch those over and over. It was one with special forces guys, one of the like invasion right of iraq, and then, um, I can't remember what the other ones, but they were just showing all these ieds, ieds, ieds. Yes, there was gunfights, but these ieds just demolishing. And then and then I would go on youtube, or, um, what was it? Ron tomato, not ron tomatoes, what is it?
Speaker 2:roncom. Yeah, orgrish also live leak. It was a good live leaks.
Speaker 1:Yes, live leaks, that's. That's what it was. I would go LiveLeaks and just watch all these firefights and these trucks getting blown up and I'm like, okay, well, these fucking IEDs are fucking dudes up. So I walked into the recruiting station and I was like, look, my name is Angel Cortez. I see the IEDs kill service members, soldiers. I was like, um, you know, I want to do something about it. I want to go after the guys to make the ids or go after the things or find them or whatever.
Speaker 1:And then that's when they were, they both looked at me like I was fucking crazy. You're a recruiter's wet dream, bro. Yeah, bro, they. Because I just I was nervous, so I talked real fast, you know, in front of them and they're like both their jaws just dropped and they were like oh yeah, like you can either be eod or a combat engineer. And they told me all the schooling that eod you needed. And at the time, bro, I failed everything in high school, minus math and pe. I failed everything else. And I was like, man, I'm not gonna, I can't make eod. So I was like yo, I'll be a combat engineer. And and then I was like but I'm not 18. And they're like oh, actually you don't have to be 18, with the parent signature you can join. So I went to. By that time I'd already been kicked out of my house, and so, oh you were kicked out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay, so I went to find my mom where I heard she would live in with my brothers and sisters, and when I showed up and they knocked big ass you know army recruiter she started crying. I remember. I remember I was like I was surprised because, bro, I wasn't raised properly, right, so I've seen some type of emotion coming out of her was fucking, to be honest, kind of like I think she knew what time it was.
Speaker 2:Dude, like by seeing the recruiter and like knowing, like fuck is, and you know it.
Speaker 1:It made me uncomfortable being around her like that. And she's like, are you sure? And I was like, yeah, I was like I've always watched all these war movies. You know, when I was a little kid I would always play with the plastic soldiers. You know, like the night, go to the 98 cent store, you get the plastic green ones and the gray ones and I would have little trenches on the dirt and I would make them fight.
Speaker 2:And I was like like I was always interested in all that stuff and I was like so yeah, of course. And then so she signed and I fucking bounced so you went in as a combat engineer.
Speaker 1:Yeah, where did you go to basic at missouri? How was that, bro? That was a culture shock, because one uh, you were around people from all over the world, right, I mean sorry, not over the world all over the country, and I'm not sure if they did it on purpose, but it was just funny. It's like they put all the troublemakers into my fucking bootcamp, like all the hood dudes from the East Coast, from Miami, from Texas.
Speaker 1:That's where bootcamp is, where I found out there was even fucking, like you know, from dudes from like Little Rock white boys that were gang members and they were gang members yeah, that was the in from arkansas and all this and I'm like so it was funny. It was almost like prison. Immediately, every all the mexicans started hanging out, all the blacks, all the whites. Uh, the samoans were kind of like you know, kind of cool with everybody yeah um, and it was funny at first.
Speaker 1:You know, everyone's like trying to be tough or whatever. But, like bro, we're at boot camp, we're all gonna get our ass kicked and then, little by little, we all get broken down and then all of a sudden, everyone's friends by the end of it and, um, you know, you learn a lot. You learn a lot by yourself in the world, or right then and there did your ait roll in right afterwards?
Speaker 2:yeah, is it the same? Yeah, same location. Yep, how was that for you, the change?
Speaker 1:up. What were you? Learning in ait well, first, uh, first, how to use a mind detector. Right, look for landmines, look for metals. Understand the difference between if you're sweeping something and it's like, it's just like it'll, your mind detector will make a noise, but it's nothing, and understanding the difference between like oh shit, I got something, to where, like no, this is nothing. And then to dig, dig, dig, dig to see if you know that nothing becomes something um. And then about explosives, like you know the um.
Speaker 1:And then how to set up charges to blow things up like crater charges crater charges bangalores because, yeah, we have um g watt but the but the g watt when you, when you blow things up like a door, a lot or or an id, that's not the role of a combat engineer. What cabinet combat engineers would do is um, something like you see on sam prime ryan, when there's all these opticals on the beach and someone's got to fucking blow them up to make it the way. And that's got to fucking blow them up to make it the way. Did you guys use?
Speaker 2:Miklix, yeah, we did Really. Yeah, I always thought that shit looked cool as fuck bro.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it takes a long time to fucking do it, but yeah.
Speaker 2:So how long was that duration? Basic AIT. And then where did you go get shipped to?
Speaker 1:It. It was like six months, I think. God damn dude. Yeah, well, because it's all together, right Six months. And then I got stationed to Washington State. And then when I got there, I remember, as I'm walking to my company, everyone's out there and they're all, like you know, yelling at us. It's almost like prison. When new inmates come, bro, they're all yelling at us and calling us cherries and all this shit. And then they're like hey, new guy, fucking, get ready. Tomorrow we go day and night shooting, day and night demo. Have all your shit ready, because we're going to Iraq in six months.
Speaker 2:They told you that initially. When you got there Fuck yeah, my first day they told us the same thing. So what feelings went through your head when you heard that?
Speaker 1:Well, I went through your head when you heard that. Well, I was like you know. Well, first I wanted to prove myself, because these are now I'm amongst the dudes that I look up to, the people that I was, that I looked up to, you know, on all these shows. Did they have previous deployments? Yeah, man, it's. You can tell me, because everyone had that patch, their combat patch, right that they didn't change over from their, their deployment. So you saw this, these patches. So you had I can't remember what is it your left or right, but one shoulder was like your cleanish patch that you just wear around base, and then the other one was your deployment patch and like that shit was dirty, probably still had the dirt from iraq or afghanistan where the fuck that came from?
Speaker 2:and then they just looked different and you're like bro, like this dude's been through some shit hey, hey guys, consider becoming a patron, where you will get first exclusive dibs on the video before it airs to the public and you'll get to ask the guest special questions that you have in mind. So that's also another way to support the channel. Thank you, guys. Appreciate all of you. Keep pushing forward. Make sure you hit that link in the description below so you trained how long before you deployed yeah, like six months six months, bro, that's fucking brand, that's.
Speaker 1:That's not that long time, it's not it flew, it flew and we, and so we went to iraq.
Speaker 2:My first deployment was iraq were your, did you have good leadership at your unit?
Speaker 1:oh man no no no, no, no, not at all, man, man, terrible, terrible leadership. I was lucky enough that there was good dudes around it, but like it was very toxic and at the time I didn't know, I just thought that's how it was Right. But you know, you had a lot of dudes that they were either divorced or they're on the way to get divorced or they fucking wish they were divorced. A lot of them were alcoholics. A lot of them were comfortableics. Um, a lot of them were comfortable with with I didn't like that, oh I, I, I did this. So then, and then it's just like they never really seeked improvement they were like living out their history, their past, yeah but it's like yeah, but what do you do now, bro?
Speaker 1:like that's not saying that your past doesn't count, homie, but like yeah, what are you doing now?
Speaker 2:And would they hold that over? You Like, hey, bitch, I did this, I did that, yeah all the time, all the time.
Speaker 1:And they had me there, they had me where, like, yes, I did not go to war I don't know what that means, like I can train for it, but there's something to say that when you go and do the thing right, right. So I was like, all right, you got me there and and so. But I just took it because I honestly think my upbringing helped me deal with a lot of stuff in the military. Because, bro, when I joined in the game in my room, well, first of all I didn't even know you joined, I didn't even know you got paid when you were in the military. I, I, yeah, so when? So?
Speaker 1:you were balling huh. No well, we're more recruited. Was like trying to explain to me how pay works.
Speaker 2:I remember two grand a month.
Speaker 1:I think, yeah, I remember thinking like what is this? And he goes oh, this, this is your, your pay grade. And I was like you get paid for this. And he goes yeah, how did you think it worked? I was like I thought they gave clothes and somewhere to live and that was boom, that was it right. So now we're even, you're right. So when I joined bro, I, that was my first time ever having my own bed, even though I shared a room. That was my first time I ever had like a room, right, um? So all that shit was easy to me. When they're treating me like shit, I'm like same shit, same shit. I was treated like shit growing up. My dad would beat me, my mom would telling us that you, we ruined her fucking life and no one loves us, and all this, and that I was like now I get paid and I'm here, so whatever.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you're doing what you enjoy doing or what you want to do. Yep, you said you deployed to Iraq. Yeah, in what year?
Speaker 1:2009 and 10.
Speaker 2:What area? What area? Dayala Dayala, dayala Dayala, was that by? Balad Dayala Dayala, it's it's no, what's what?
Speaker 1:is it Barbuka Bakuza? It's north of what I'm trying to say. Was it north of Baghdad Bakuza? Wherever that is?
Speaker 2:And what was your day-to-day operations like when you touched down?
Speaker 1:So we lived in a cop and a cop is so you have like big airfield bases that you land the military planes and then from there you have a FOB which is it's a little bit smaller than the big airfield base, and then after that you got a cop right and the cop is like the smallest fucking base. Little outpost thing is a call, it stands for a combat outpost, right, and that's where we live. We lived in cop cobra and and you know there was no running water, uh, you know no electricity. Um, everything was like mres or like these fucking shitty ass meals that at some point you were like, bro, I would rather fucking eat an mre at this point, um, and and so we would clear in the day or in the night, which meant we were in these armored vehicles, and then the vehicle I was in was the buffalo and I was, and I was, uh, and I was just um on in the Buffalo looking for IEDs.
Speaker 1:So if we did find an IED, we had basically like a claw thing that would then go investigate when you're looking.
Speaker 2:are you looking with your eyes or is there some type of no, we're looking through.
Speaker 1:But you basically have these big-ass windows I mean they're not really that big, but big windows that you're looking through and you're trying to see signs. And then you know we train up on these little things that, hey, there might be something here. One of the strikers that had a robot we rarely use the robot, but it was mostly in the Buffalo cause it's really beefy and then, and then you have some distance with that claw to like poke around and see what's up.
Speaker 2:Did you guys have air force, a EOD?
Speaker 1:No, like poke around and see what's up. Did you guys have air force a? Uh, eod? Um, no, we. We had the capability of calling eod if something was too crazy, but, like, our job was to blow things up. So it's like you know, eod gets, gets a lot of credit, as you should, but people don't know that combat engineers are actually the ones that you don't have enough eod guys to do the mission did you guys ever find ieds before they blew up?
Speaker 2:Yeah, really yeah, and then we would just blow them up. Could you give us like an example?
Speaker 1:So, like I remember one time, so the bad guys, even though they don't know what a fucking iPad is or what a fucking DoorDash is, that doesn't mean they're stupid. These are intelligent people Like I don't like it when people are like, oh, you guys fight farmers and it's like, has a farmer picked up an ak and shot at us? Yes, but um, we would fight fucking well-trained, well-seasoned fighters and sometimes even foreigners. Because these people see, um, you know the ukraine situation and people going to ukraine into helping them out, and they think, oh, that's the first time that's ever happened, that's the first time a foreigner has ever gone to a conflict. No, that shit happened in Iraq, it should happen in Afghanistan.
Speaker 1:So, you know, there's these checkpoints, or choke points, I mean. So there's like a bend or a bridge. If you have to cross that bridge, they know like, hey, you have to cross it. So that's a bridge. If you have to cross that bridge, they know like, hey, you, you have to cross it. So that's a perfect place for them to place an ied. I remember one of the ones that we found was uh, and you lose trash all over the country. Right, there was a, a tire, and they had and and they're not dumb, so they would set these tires all around the road and then you drive by it one day, two days, three days, maybe a week, and next you know you drive by in that same tire. That didn't have shit. Now there was two artillery rounds in there. So, um, it seemed a little suspicious and we checked it out. We're like, oh shit, like yeah, man, there's a fucking two artillery rounds now you're in a buffalo or you're in a vehicle.
Speaker 2:Do you fucking, do you dismount?
Speaker 1:no, no, no. So we got that arm on the buffalo, okay, and then you would open up one of the hatches, put some C4, and then swing the arm to place it. What the hell? Go back and set it off.
Speaker 2:What's the time frame for that? It takes a long time, man.
Speaker 1:Yeah, unless that thing is remote donated, you know, they can set it off whenever the fuck they want.
Speaker 2:Which IED? Um, you know they can. They can set it off whenever the fuck they want. Which ieds were you guys encountering the wired ones a?
Speaker 1:command or the, a little bit of both, a little bit of both. So so, um, um, in iraq you had the command or the like little radio or the, whatever they use, just a signal, right, um, that that was for iraq. And then we would find the little trillier rounds. And then one time we found, um, a efp, which is those nasty ones that would go through armored vehicles like fucking hot knife through butter yeah, fuck dude, did you guys ever get hit by the ids?
Speaker 1:not me no no, but your platoon but we've had we've had people within the company that did get hit and, you know, survived, and so I was lucky on that aspect.
Speaker 2:What was the landscape around? Was it like agriculture or like city?
Speaker 1:We were towards like the end. So like we would, it would be a little bit of city and then nothing, right? So it wasn't like hardcore, we're deep in the city.
Speaker 2:Or it wasn't like, hey, we're out there in bumfuck nowhere so while you were there fucking finding ids the hard way, man, did you ever reminisce and think like, okay, I'm here, this is what I wanted to do? Did you feel like you were making a difference?
Speaker 1:uh, I felt like this is what I'm doing, like this is what I'm doing right now. Uh, I need to be the best that I can be. So, like I would work out, I would read books. You know, try to be the best soldier and the best at my job. Right that that I could be and and just do my part, and, and. And. I never felt like, oh, you know, what am I doing here? I never felt that.
Speaker 2:Did you feel like you can get killed at any time? Oh, for sure.
Speaker 1:For sure, like. But you know, one thing is that you have that fear, but it's like what you do with that fear. You know, like the first time I jumped out of the plane, I was scared. The first time I, you know, went to in a gunfight, I was scared. Or the first time I went to go fight in Muay Thai, I was scared. But it's like what you do during that time. So you know, yeah, I'm nervous, but like I'm right here, I don't got time.
Speaker 2:What was your take on the type of guerrilla warfare IED war that you were fighting? Were you discouraged because there wasn't an enemy to see, and shoot and kill?
Speaker 1:No, you know, I mean an enemy to see and shoot and kill. No, um, you know, I mean I, I, because I, I know there's more of us out there doing something. So like, that's my part, right there, right, my part is the ieds. That's cool, and I know there's dudes out there doing missions, I know there's out dudes fucking giving to them, so so I mean, but did I want to be the guy? Well, fuck yeah, I did. Of course, I did, um, but that's if that's our job.
Speaker 2:That's our job, right? No, that's good dude. When did you catch wind of the rangers and when did you want to become one?
Speaker 1:um, well, that, uh, so, because I was stationed in washington state, uh, uh, now it's called joint base lewis mccord. Back then it was just called for lewis right, um, and you, you had second ranger battalion there and you had first uh group special forces there and you would see them all the time. Uh, those guys look different, they had different gear and they just you, just besides the different cool guy gear and all that you can just they just looked different. They carried themselves differently. And so from day one when I was stationed there, I would notice them, but not until I came back from that deployment and and and I, and I was, you know, building myself like as a soldier, I was like you know what, maybe, maybe I got what it takes to to to go and try that and be like them, but I, I didn't until we, I came back from my deployment from Afghanistan with third special forces group. So my next deployment was attached to third third group special forces in Afghanistan and we were doing the whole village stability operations. What is that? Which was special forces? Major Jim Gant, very intelligent guy.
Speaker 1:The thing with Afghanistan is that in some areas the concept of a country is kind of. I want to say maybe not foreign, but it doesn't make sense to them because they're tribal, they know about their tribe, their area and that's it. To say that they're a country. It's like no, I'm with my people, these are my people, this is my tribe. So they're not going to respect you if you live and operate out of these big bases.
Speaker 1:You go out there, you fight, you come back. They don't respect that. But if you live with them and you fight alongside with them, they'll respect that and then they'll help you push out the Taliban, because some of these people don't like the Taliban. But they can't push them out if we are leaving every single night, because then the Taliban just comes, or we don't patrol every day. The Taliban would just stop or go away for the day or two and then they'd come back. So what Special Forces Major Jim Gantz said is how about we put a Special Forces group in one valley? They live and operate out of this house. They live and fight out of this house and obviously you can imagine a valley is pretty big. An ODA or a Special Forces group team isn't that big. So instead of putting two teams in one area, just put one team and then supplement it with infantrymen.
Speaker 2:Oh shit.
Speaker 1:And then that's where we came in, because me, being a combat engineer, a 12 Bravo, you know they will the, the, the infantry guys were like hey to to our engineer company. They're like, hey, give us your best nine, uh, engineers. And then that's how I got attached to them. And then that's how I got attached to third um group special forces. So we lived and operated out of a fucking house in this valley and we fought every single fucking day so you mentioned uh, those people were tribal.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I understand residents. Yeah, with your experience and knowledge, what is your take? Do you think the country of America, the USA, would ever be successful in going to any other country and trying to change their ideology or their culture?
Speaker 1:It's not that the Us can't do it, it is the politicians that are in charge. Um are not going to allow it to happen because they, they fight amongst each other. They, they don't want to do things the right way, like, for example, to we're not fighting the uniform, we're fighting an ideology. And to fight that ideology, if you truly want to get it out of the country or that specific spot, let's not talk about the world, let's just talk about that country. Well, you need education, yes, you need to fight those guys, but then you got to educate everybody else and to give them an alternate.
Speaker 1:It's really hard to tell a teenager to go blow himself up when he knows I can go to school, there's a mall or I can go have a date with the girl. You give them these western options, or maybe not even western, but like, hey, there's a fucking courtyard or a fucking town center, we all hang out or whatever, but they have none of that, so that they have absolutely nothing. So when someone and they're not even educated, so when someone comes and they tell them about this and that and the evil Westerners and you have to do this, and then they're like, yeah, yeah, I'll do it. Fuck, yeah, I'll blow myself up.
Speaker 2:With your experience, dude, do you blame the people of Afghanistan and the people of Iraq for taking up arms against the USA invaders? Quote unquote.
Speaker 1:No, man. No, because some of them, um, did not like, they don't like, americans, right. So so and they? This is hard for some people to wrap their heads around. It's like I've never done anything to them. They'll leave me alone. No, just because you're not a Muslim, they fucking hate you. All right, because you're not. You know, you don't, you don't practice their, their, their religion, you, they hate you. So those people, I'm not surprised. But then there's the other group that look, man, they all they know is somebody came in, and if you're trying to kill the Taliban, but along the way you kill a cousin and a nephew or whatever they're on, they're by, they're people of like honor and all this stuff. So you're like, oh, you killed my uncle, so now I gotta go kill you. And and if you didn't kill that uncle, accidentally or purposely, that dude wouldn't have ever picked up a rifle against you. So even though obviously I don't like that because I'm on the opposite end, I can understand that.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, that's what I was kind of getting at. Yeah, like, do you see war for what it really is?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, you know, there's a lot of reasons why people fight, you know, then there's a lot of people, a lot of different reasons why they joined the us military right, and there's a lot of different reasons why people in afghanistan were shooting at us. Some of them were taliban, some of them were al-qaeda and some of them were just these tribal people that they're like, bro, you're fucking our shit up, right get the fuck out of here. Get the fuck out of here, yeah you mentioned that house, bro.
Speaker 2:What was it like? A mansion size house or regular size?
Speaker 1:no, bro. So the people in afghanistan and other places have been at war for years, so over there there's no such thing as like a regular house. Each, each house is almost like a compound and they have these gigantic mud walls all around each of their compounds. Right, and you might think, oh, the mud wall is nothing, but these are like well-constructed, thick-ass mud walls that like stop 50-kilograms.
Speaker 2:Right, why do the people? Because now that you mentioned it, I got a visual. Every fucking house had that. Why do they do that? Why do they locals do that? To keep livestock in, to keep bad guys out.
Speaker 1:Well, a little bit, yeah, a little bit, of both Keep their livestock in and then from them not to get killed through all the war that's going on, because if it's not us, before that it was the Russians, and before that it was whoever fucking was there.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, that's fucking smart dude. So would you guys operate out and patrol out yeah? Man Like how far out of sector Did you have an area of responsibility? The whole fucking valley.
Speaker 1:No way bro.
Speaker 2:Yes, the whole valley and walking or vehicles.
Speaker 1:We would walk. We had razors. So those Polaris razors, we had those. Holy shit, dude, we mount machine guns on the side of them.
Speaker 2:And so we had the two seaters, and sometimes we would just go out just two razors alone.
Speaker 1:So that's four guys we'll go out. What was your rank at that time? Uh, I was a sergeant.
Speaker 2:So oh, fuck, you were a sergeant, bro.
Speaker 1:Bro, I was a sergeant before I was 21, fuck, yeah, yeah, um. So I already couldn't, you know, have my own little team. And so it was this normal looking house with the with the little, with the wall around it, and then we, we put hest codes to put the vehicles in, because then there was not enough room and we would, literally we would have to have security 24 7, so we're the security, like the special forces guys. They would even pull security shifts, like, um, because we kind of had a good amount of guys, so it was, you had like 12 hours, and then after a while we put it down to what was it? Not 12. It was like eight hours, yeah, eight hours, like every other day or every day, which is it was just chill, right, and then we would fight out of there and they would try to fucking overrun us, bro, like we would.
Speaker 1:I, I, afghanistan was where it was heavy with me. We, we had a deal with not one, but two suicide bombers we, they had, they tried to overrun us a few times and one of them they even got as close as to being the other side of the wall and grenades had to start being thrown. Um, there were dudes who would get multiple purple hearts. Uh, they're like. There were dudes who would get multiple Purple Hearts. They would get blown up, go to the local hospital, get cleared out, get their Purple Heart, come back and then get shot. So a lot of the dudes who I deployed with some of our dudes did die. Some of the dudes, yes, got Purple Hearts and never came back because they were pretty fucked up, but we had more than one than one. Two, three dudes get two purple hearts in one deployment out of that house.
Speaker 2:Yes, sir, we're out with them. That whole deployment were you based out of that house?
Speaker 1:yeah, no fucking way so we would go to this little cop to get resupplied and that's where we spent the whole fucking time, bro, like we, we. So they would wake us up and and so you'd be sleeping, and then you would hear fucking rpgs, machine gun fire, and they were just trying to fucking get at you and you and I don't know how many times I've been walking up like that, um, you know, and we would do all these missions like what distance were?
Speaker 2:these taliban shooting at you guys from you're talking. Were they in an elevated position at all with their mountains? Yeah?
Speaker 1:So we were in Wardak, which is the eastern part of Afghanistan. There's mountains everywhere, so sometimes, depending on where you're at, if you got behind something and if they were to the left and right of you not even 360, just left and right, you'd be like it doesn't even matter where I fucking go.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's horrible dude, right, you'd be like. It doesn't even matter where I fucking go horrible dude bro.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so it wasn't like oh watch, you know, front side and back.
Speaker 2:It was like 3d 360 degree fucking battlefield yep, also up.
Speaker 1:Um, and it was crazy man. We had to deal with fucking snipers like we. I have footage of of one of our dudes against the wall and the sniper barely fucking missed his face and the dust cloud just. Or there have been firefights where where my friends were like they're like, bro cortez, because everyone's causing trouble by the last thing. They're like, cortez, I thought you got, I thought you were, you died. Yeah, they're like, because all I know was is there was dust cloud all over you and you disappeared. And then you know, I went to go do this or I went to go do that. So I was like fuck, he's fucking, he's dead. And I'm like no man. I was like I didn't get shot. I was like it was kind of close. I don't know it was that close. They were like, bro, you couldn't see your legs and I was like, oh, like I thought it was like in front of me.
Speaker 1:I didn't know it was on around me on you and then there's been times where bro there's, we would get shot at. And I know the sound of when the bullets are over your head. I know the sound and the feeling when the boots are, our bullets are near your head and I know the feeling and the sound when the bullets graze your fucking face, yeah, and you're like, oh shit, like that's different. And and then I, I have my shirt right here. It's called war is a drug, right, because bro it was. I've never felt so many highs and lows Because you can imagine, you get in a gunfight, you survive, so you feel a little way about yourself, invincible, almost, yeah. And then you have gunfight after gunfight after gunfight, month after month.
Speaker 2:So like, things that used to like give me an adrenaline dump were kind of like eh, Well, that used to like give me an adrenaline dump were kind of like eh well, uh, let me take a piss break real quick, bro, and then we'll fucking elaborate on that yes, sir, thank you.
Speaker 1:So what do you do for fun? My dude Me, video games. Honestly, what do you play? Right now I'm playing CSGO.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, I used to play a lot of video games too, before my kids were born Like a crazy amount. I remember you ever play Battlefield. No, I was more into Call of Duty. Oh, I played Call of Duty, but I remember Battlefield 2. I was playing Battlefield 2 and I didn't know how much I'd played. And I remember one time my friend was like, hey, let me look you up. And he goes, bro, you know you're in the top 4% of the world. And I was like I knew I played a lot, but I didn't know I played that much.
Speaker 1:I used to wake up before my wife woke up. I would play. She would make breakfast, feed me while I was playing. I would play all the way to lunch, like this is on the weekends Play all the way up to lunch, she would, and then she would feed me and then we'd take a break and watch Netflix for like one or two hours and then I would do that and then play again all the way till past dinner. She would go to bed and then on Sunday I would wake up and do the exact same thing over again.
Speaker 2:Fuck, I. Till past dinner she would go to bed and then on sunday I would wake up and do the exact same thing over again. It's bad, bro, all right, cool. Yes, sir, you ready. Uh, leo, yeah, we're good, cool. So you're operating out of this house. Dude, what is special forces mission versus the infantry? And you guys, were you guys running this?
Speaker 1:no, we were running same mission, same exact same mission yeah, same mission, man, and that's. And that's where I felt really like you know what man? I think I can join the special operations community because, because, if you're operating out of somewhere between 8 000 and 10 000 feet elevation, you have all this gear and you're fucking.
Speaker 1:It's, it's game time, this is for real, there's no response, right, and you have, uh, and I had the team sergeant to be like, hey, cortez is with me, and you know what. Then maybe I got something going on with me, you know. So you know. And then you know, some of the special forces guys were like, hey, man, you should probably drop your pocket too when you get out, because I was telling them, uh, not get out. But when you come back, and I was like you know what man, I, I want to do that, I, I.
Speaker 1:And then I remember one of the dudes who stopped by, used to be a ranger and then, but now he was a, you know sf guy and he told me about, you know, being in rain on regiment and I was like you know what man, I think. I think that's that's more for me, and I think what it was is that it was more um, the. The layout was kind of like conventional units as in the uf, platoons, teams and all that and odas. What people don't know is like I've worked with an od8 that you have a you know a group of eight all the way to like a group of 14, yeah, um. So I was like you know what I want to do that. So when I came back from that deployment, um you know, there was no fucking way I was going to be conventional army anymore man, there wasn't because you had already a fucking experience yeah, and and man, we made, we made national headlines that time, that deployment, three times from that deployment we have there's dudes giving out ted talks being on fox writing books.
Speaker 1:So I come back home and I'm like you know what, I'm dropping my packet from incidents that had happened.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like Like those suicide bombers you were talking about. Yeah, what did they do? They fucking clacked off a vest.
Speaker 1:So you know how I was saying there was a cop that we would go and get resupplied and that's where we get mail. I remember one time we were there, and this is like five something in the morning and and I remember I'm putting uh gear on top of these fucking um containers in the and there's an explosion right at one of the entrances. And I remember and I caught it in my corner of my eye, I just happened to be looking in that general direction. So I remember seeing the dust cloud and there was a black hawk that I was flying over and the the dust cloud almost touched the Blackhawk because it was just taken off. And I remember thinking like, oh shit, it almost touched the Blackhawk. And I'm like and then after that, quickly I was like wait, that's at the fucking gate. And as I yell, hey, that's at the fucking gate, I feel the biggest explosion I ever felt in my life and what it was is the first explosion was a suicide bomber at the gate which allowed a dump truck to go in.
Speaker 2:No fucking way dude To blow itself up.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So next thing, you know, my face is in the dirt. I don't know what the fuck happened. I look and there's a mushroom nuke, looking fucking cloud right in front of me. And then the special forces compound was on the base, was kind of like at a slope. So we were at the top and I see my two buddies already running up and I I'm running up to grab my gear and during during that deployment I had my, my gopro, and so I have a lot of footage from that deployment.
Speaker 1:And then I turn on my deployment, I'm my deployment, I turn on my camera as I'm running down to the hole, because before, earlier that year, they had blown somebody up at the gate at this other base and then Taliban fighters went in. Who was manning the gates? Afghans, okay, and then after that it'd be US guys. So we all knew there was a fucking hole now and there's probably Taliban fighters going to start running in. So I turn on my fucking camera as we're running down and the dust cloud is still hasn't even settled, so so we're running into dust and when we get there, man, that day there was like 94, 96 americans got, got wounded, a bunch of civilians, uh, got killed because our base was connected to a um a bazaar, so like a little shopping center for the Afghans.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And when we went down there, bro, I mean I didn't know at the time, but I'm stepping over hands, feet, bunch of body parts, Right, you know people are dying. And then so the people that aren't dead right away like ripped into pieces, they're dying slowly because the blast Right, you know it made their internals fucking mush and you just hear a bunch of people like moaning slowly because they're just dying slowly, right?
Speaker 2:what location of the base did it hit dude? Is it? Was there like a vehicle entrance or did it make it into what?
Speaker 1:yeah, so so it hit the gate and there used to be a road that was like basically run alongside and and and. Um, there they closed it because it was funny like two years before they had fucking blown themselves up by the on the road or whatever. Yeah, so they closed it. So he blew himself at the gate and he just tried to make entry into the base and then he blew himself almost immediately at the entrance. But the explosion was fucking rocked the whole fucking base.
Speaker 1:Fuck, yeah, did they follow up with an attack after that. Um, it was funny. Uh, we were. So we, when we went down there, it was me, the special forces guy, two other infantrymen and and for you. So we were the first ones to close that hole down. We were waiting for them. And what? What happened was we're waiting for the guys, we're waiting for those taliban fighters to come and they don't come.
Speaker 1:And what happened was they had a second truck coming no fucking way and our combat controller saw it because, um, the locals had heard how many afghans had died, so they were stopping this vehicle. And then the passenger started shooting in the air with an ak, which the guys on the birds that was an obvious like what the fuck is going on there? And then they realized, you know, oh shit, this is probably another vehicle. And then, and then they just fucking lit it up lit it up did they?
Speaker 2:how much were there?
Speaker 1:a lot of explosives packed into that dump truck, the first one, the one that blew up at the oh yeah yeah, I got video from that from the aftermath, because after reinforcements came and we got relieved, I stopped by the fucking hole and you couldn't even tell the base, like where it ended and where it fucking stopped. Bro, you know when it started, so you're like.
Speaker 2:When you're seeing these pieces on the ground, because I've experienced the same thing what's going through your mind?
Speaker 1:like the pieces of like body flesh yeah well, well, it was funny because it's so dusty and so you know chaos, that I didn't even notice the ones that I was stepping on and and being around. I only noticed the big ones. So you had like a body here, an arm there, so you notice that, but meanwhile it's not like these things break off perfectly, so you only have the arm, you only got the body. It's like there's tiny little shit everywhere, and so when I went back into my fucking, into our portion of the base man, uh, I was like man, I gotta take a shower.
Speaker 1:And I remember I looked down and there's like flesh stuck in between my shoelaces and I remember just staring at it, like well, I didn't know at the time, but obviously we all got TBI from that. You know, you can't fucking take a suicide bomber dump truck to the face, right, um, and I just did. I just stood there minutes and I'm just staring at it and I was like bro, this is real, because at that point so much shit had happened that you feel unstoppable, right, and then that happens and then, even though you still survive it, you're like pro, like you can't forget, like this is real.
Speaker 2:that's fucking crazy that you mentioned that, because your body and mind does develop almost a callous. It gets callous as you, as you see, a person get shot, okay, yeah. Person get blown up with a roadside bomb okay. But now you get dealt with a fucking car bomb, a V-Bid, and it's like you said, bro, it's like, oh fuck, bro, it just elevated to a whole nother level. Yes, sir, did that instill fear into you? No, no, no.
Speaker 1:It just made me be more like oh, this is real. All that stuff doesn't really. It never for me. It never came until later, until when you don't have anything to do.
Speaker 2:How far along later did it hit you?
Speaker 1:Um, like the next day when there was nothing to do, like during that moment you're all hyped up, but then, the next day when you have nothing to do, and then you're like, oh shit, like this, this isn't over, by the way.
Speaker 2:You, you gotta go, I still have some time yeah, you got some time.
Speaker 1:So that's why, when there was any downtime, bro, I I did not like it, because that's that's the downtime, at least for me. That's when it was shit will start creeping into my head and I'd be like yo, I don't got time for this shit.
Speaker 2:I feel you, dude, that's normal, though it's normal. Yeah, um fuck, I can't believe we almost skipped over that whole entire incident, bro. I didn't fucking realize that you hadn't experienced that fucking carb bomb at the base like that. Oh, yeah yeah, that shit's no joke, dude, I'm not, definitely. That's not normal. Carb bombs are not fucking normal.
Speaker 1:And it was funny because to me it was normal, because that's how my deployments were. So I'm like oh yeah, that's normal, fuck dude.
Speaker 2:So then you get back to stateside and did you do a pre-ranger.
Speaker 1:No so, because by that time I was already E-5, a sergeant.
Speaker 1:They're like hey, man, your, your, your pipeline is going to be a little bit longer. Why so? Because I have to keep so. When you're a certain rank, you sure already have some schools, if you for this specific job that you're doing, right. So they're like hey, and I wasn't airborne qualified. So from october to October, right, I graduated. I went to pre-RASP, which is RASP is Ranger, assessment and Selection. I was there for a month and then I did RASP and then after that I did airborne school and then after that I did Master Breacher the Regimental Master Breacher, not the conventional Master Breacher course, cert, which is small unit ranger tactics, and then ranger school.
Speaker 2:So october to october you're just fucking grinding these schools away, grinding them out and and through each single one.
Speaker 1:You know they were like hey, man, you know, because we've had some problems with some imports kind of quitting on us yeah they're like right now you're kind of like leasing to own, so you don't have a spot until you graduate everything. So even though I was graduating all these things, I was like fuck yeah, but I was like I still don't, and by then you had your own combat patches and you were already a combat veteran yeah were you getting new cherries to the unit 100?
Speaker 2:yes, were you utilizing the same? Were you talking down to them like your leaders were talking down to you?
Speaker 1:No, no, because, because they. So when I get, when I got to regiment, you know, they don't know any of this. All they, they don't know what I've been through, they just know, hey, this fool's got a fucking weird ass patch. What the fuck is it? And you know. And then the way I always have always been in my life is like I just assumed oh, you know what I, they probably done something that I haven't. I can probably learn something from them. Um, you know, I just assumed. They all had dozens and dozens of firefights. They all dealt with suicide bombers. They all, bro, I, I didn't even talk about this part. I would, me, being the combat engineer, I would. Then, when afghanistan, I would go up to the bombs. And I didn't even talk about this part. I would, me being the combat engineer, I would then, when afghanistan, I would go up to the bombs and we didn't have a robot, I would walk up to them. I have videos of me placing c4 on the bombs. I would pull them out of the fucking roads with my bare hands.
Speaker 1:So I just assumed yeah, all these rangers did this shit and and I just kind of sat quiet and, you know, took all the remarks of me being a cherry or an import where did uh?
Speaker 2:where was your ranger school at?
Speaker 1:uh well, georgia everything most of the schools are georgia.
Speaker 2:Yeah, benny and how long is that school for?
Speaker 1:well, if you don't recycle?
Speaker 2:yeah, did you recycle, yeah, I had every time you did florida phase yes okay, so how many phases are there?
Speaker 1:so you have you have, uh, you have, darby, which is the first phase. Uh, mountains um, and then florida, or swamp, however people how would you complete?
Speaker 2:compare darby mountain phase in ranger school to afghanistan mountain warfare oh um.
Speaker 1:I was like they take your sleep and your food away in ranger school, so like of course it's tough, but it was tough at the moment because they take your sleep and fucking food away. But for me I was always like I've done worse.
Speaker 2:How detrimental is food and sleep to a human body?
Speaker 1:Bro, it's so funny, Simple tasks are just hard. Simple tasks Like you tell somebody hey, go run a mile. You're like, oh, no problem, and then you take a little bit of the food, a little bit of sleep. Hey, go run a mile. They're like, okay, no problem. Then you really take their food and you really take their sleep, and then you tell them to go run a mile and then do it again. And then go do it again and then go do it again, and then you're like, okay, go do it again. Then you're like, fuck, this mile mile all of a sudden is not as easy as it looks when you're fresh, well-rested, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Now what do you think goes into that, bro? More mental strength or more physical strength?
Speaker 1:Mental, mental. Yes, you have to meet the physical requirements which, in reality, I feel like a lot of people underestimate their capabilities. It's more mental than anything, because, bro, on a good day I'm fucking five, six, okay, you know. And and when I joined in, um, when I joined the military, I think I was like 130, and then when I was in a ranger.
Speaker 1:I was in more than 150 155, so you don't have to be a fucking giant monster. Obviously it probably would have been easier on me if I was a giant monster, but if I can fucking do it, uh, that's where I really found out. Like man, it's more mental than anything where is that florida stage?
Speaker 2:in the middle or the end, at the end? Holy shit, it's at the end. And what happened there that caused you to get recycled?
Speaker 1:well. So you, you are put in your leadership position, right, and it's called the look. You get your look, and then you get a no-go or a go. If you get a go, you're good to go right, and then you might get different looks. You might get one, two or three. Um, I got my go, so I was good to go. And then, and then obviously, uh, um, you know you're sleep deprived, you're hungry, everyone's in the mood.
Speaker 1:And there was this one incident where where he happened to be a ranger from a different battalion he said some shit. I didn't like it. And then we got arguing and then I was like you know what, bro, and this is like one, two in the morning in the patrol base. Obviously, if I was fucking well rested, I weren't a fucking actor like that, but I was like yo, bro, take your shit off, I'm gonna fuck you up. Um, and the.
Speaker 1:The thing that people don't know about ranger school is you have everything tied down to you, like everything, your compass, your everything, your rifle, everything, dummy corded, so yeah, so it's attached to you by 550 cord, which is basically fucking you know a little rope, whatever. So I'm over there talking shit. You have any idea how stupid. I looked at 2 in the morning untying a bunch of shit, talking shit, being like, which takes you like 10 minutes, and he didn't want to fight. So after I took all my shit off, he didn't want to fight.
Speaker 1:But it got word, got back to the cadre that I was. You know that I acted like that and then so they put me in the board afterwards and then they're like hey, you either have one option you can either start day one bro, that's disheartening dude. Well, yeah, they're like you can start day one or fucking go back to regiment without your ranger tab and see how long you last which, by the way, you're not going to last long if you don't show up with your ranger tab at to arrangement. So then I was like bro, what the fuck?
Speaker 2:that's disheartening, bro, because, like I, like, I'm not saying that you know, fights in the military are kind of a common thing or were a common thing. No, they are. They still are. Okay, they still are. But I mean, did this dude tell on you?
Speaker 1:Well, I can't prove it, but they found out. I know.
Speaker 2:I know he told on you bro.
Speaker 1:Well, I know there's other people, officers around right that were going to ranger school.
Speaker 2:I know for sure one of them told them fucking a bro can't even fight in the ranger reggie in the ranger fuck your school ranger school. Bro. What the fuck man? What is this america turn to?
Speaker 1:but luckily for me, they were like hey, you know what um they after? After I said I'll start day one, they brought me back in. They're like, okay, you won't start day one, you just have to redo florida. And I was like I'll do it.
Speaker 2:Oh, they looked out for you. Yeah, too easy. Hell, yeah, yeah, so holy shit, okay Damn. That's the first time I ever heard that somebody got into an altercation and got fucking recycled. Bro. I thought maybe you like twisted ankle or some shit. Holy shit, bro. It adds more badass to the story, bro.
Speaker 1:So then you get your tab. Yep, how was that feeling? It felt great, man, because being a ranger, like you go through the selection process and you get your scroll and then you get your tab. And then that's when people, some people say like, oh, you know, now you're a real ranger, and then now you got deployed as a ranger. So I was, I was stoked, I was like, fuck, yeah, man, I, I did all this stuff. Now, you know, maybe I'll get a deployment, because I missed one deployment. Because by the time I got there they were like hey, you know, well, they were already in Afghanistan. They're like hey, it's already halfway through the deployment, just stay here. And I was like no, no, like send me, even if nothing is happening because, at the time there was a lot of restraints or restrictions.
Speaker 1:At that time, there was a lot of restraints or restrictions. Even if a lot of stuff isn't happening, I just want to fucking go and be there, but they didn't. And then and then another one. Again, there's a lot of restraints and restrictions.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:And I was like. So I was like, look man. I was like like one of my buddies came back from the deployment.
Speaker 2:He goes, bro shit well, it was during that political time frame we were talking about it beforehand how the world went to shit in 2012, 13, 2014 yeah so and then.
Speaker 1:So then I just thought I got out, I got out after eight years.
Speaker 2:How did you like um or how did it differ? How did regiment differ from uh, the conventional unit?
Speaker 1:oh bro, there is exactly what I had in afghanistan, maybe not that they weren't the same unit as sf, but like there were a much higher caliber of not just soldier but individual Right and you know it felt great to be amongst them. You know, these dudes are fucking studs. Like you go to a conventional unit and you have some studs you do, but you also have some shit bags. But you also have some shit bags. But then you go to regiment and they're all studs Right. You have to be a freak to stand out.
Speaker 2:Not just PT studs, though You're saying the way these men carried themselves.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:And I like that.
Speaker 1:I like that. I was like you know what. I'm in the right spot, man, I'm not number one here.
Speaker 2:I got to fight to keep my earn. My spot here like this is this is where I need to be now. Do you get designated a job or a position in the ranger unit? Uh, so I was the assistant battalion master, breacher, holy shit. Yeah, now going from a conventional unit to ranger, a special forces unit, do you get different tactics? Uh, yes, different tactics yeah, so.
Speaker 1:So the tactics were so when I went in 08, like if you entered a room you had the old school, like people seeing sw old SWAT movies, like you enter everything's at the low ready and then you go up, you know present, and it was a much more aggressive, much more aggressive way of going things, because I remember so for Regimental Master Breacher course, at the end there's a test, right, there's a test where you have to blow up walls, doors, double doors and you have to clear the rooms. Do you have hearing loss?
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh fuck yeah, yeah, and you have to clear the room. So I got you know and you're all. You do it in under night vision, you know. So, right off the bat I was like, oh, these dudes clear rooms differently, you know, very aggressive, like which is?
Speaker 2:good. How was their room clearing different? The temple. Was the temple higher?
Speaker 1:no, like so. So they were just more in sync, like sometimes more flowing, they would flow like fucking they would just flow a lot better. And they wouldn't even talk, and you would. You were like oh, these dudes are well fucking trained, well trained, they don't they're? They're already. Boom, cleared door. Right there, stack go.
Speaker 2:You're like bro well, because you learn how to read people. Yeah, read bodies read you already and you learn your teammates. So you see, when they lean this way, you're like all right, we're going 100, and you know. So I was like bro, these do let me ask you this because now I'm curious to know and I told you beforehand we were going to talk about tactics in 08 or whatever we're taught the fatal funnel right the doorway and shit like that and um, something that I observed watching these youtube videos or whatever a new tactic that they now use is like they'll pie a fucking doorway or something.
Speaker 2:Did you encounter that?
Speaker 1:yeah, so, yeah, so you can pie, right, you pie. And then, because I've worked with a bunch of people, different people, um, and and different SWAT teams now that we have the training company and, and, and so you can pie a door which you can plug, the company, which defense strategies group, uh, we're based out of, la, we have a training facility in in um, beverly hills. Come check it out for sure. Um, we you can pie, um, and I think it just comes from years and years of of of tactics I mean not tactics of experience when you're like, damn bro, like, should I fucking charge on the other side of this wall or should I fucking pie it?
Speaker 1:Should I pie this entry of the room or should I pie the courtyard to this compound in Afghanistan, or should I just run in there? You know so. Is there a right or a wrong way? Or should I just run in there? You know so. Is there a right or a wrong way? It depends on, like, on the situation, right, like if my buddy's fucking hurt, right, I'm not going to pie anything because it's a little bit slow and more deliberate, right?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm probably going to go fucking fast and mean and just fucking.
Speaker 2:Yeah, violence of action.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no-transcript. So you ended up leaving the military after eight years. Like I've known my wife since we were seven years old, and I was like you know what her family's here in socal that's? You know, my family's here in socal, it's time to come home.
Speaker 1:And, uh, and me being the first one born here, being the first one in military, I was an example to a lot of my, my family members. Yeah, and you know, we all work hard in our family, um, but it's all labor jobs for the most part at the time. And I was like, look, I'm gonna, I need to show my brothers and my sisters, my cousins, my nieces, my nephews like, hey, we can work hard, but we can also use our brain right. So I was like you know what? I'm gonna go to college. I didn't want to go to college, but I was like I need to show them that, like, hey, we can get a fucking degree too, we're smart.
Speaker 1:So I went to school to be a registered dietitian and I was. While I was going to school to be a registered dietitian, I met, uh, my friend Michael Dowd was a former Navy SEAL and at that point I he was working for another shooting company that that had since then has been disbanded. Um, and I remember I went to the to go shoot and I came back, man, and I sounded like a little kid to my wife. I was like there was this guy and this guy.
Speaker 2:We did this and that's probably because you had experienced something similar to military. Yeah, as a civilian.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because I missed it and I had no idea how much I missed it. And and then I was like you know what? Um, I like doing this and that by that time I was just going to school and doing veteran events and low income events and using the money from my rash guard and t-shirt hat company OG Pumpkin to do that. And I was doing all that and I like doing that. But once that company Mike worked for broke apart and then he was like you know what? I'm going to start my own company. And he called and he's he's like hey, you want to be part of it? I was like, fuck, yes.
Speaker 1:So literally on my fourth year, on my last semester, I just needed seven credits to earn my bachelor's. And then, you know, and then I would be on my way to be a registered dietitian. I quit. I was like Eagles, let's start this company. And it was funny, all the stuff that he had told me, like day, month, one we're at. He said that we were going to do this, we're going to do that, we're going to do this, and then now we're doing it. Man, I travel all over the world to teach people survival skills and shooting combatives. We have a training facility in Beverly Hills. I've gone to work beyond projects on National Geographic because of DSG. I've, you know, we trained the Stallone family. We were on their reality show, we were episode one of season two of their reality show. I've got to train a lot of law enforcement, which I love because I tell those guys like look man, I did a bunch of cool things but I'm out. You guys are the ones in.
Speaker 1:You guys are the ones doing the warrants for all these like hardcore criminals. So if I can help you in any way, that makes me feel great because someone's got to go after the murderers and the rapists. I'm not doing it.
Speaker 2:Right Before we jump into the tactical training. While you were in college, dude, how were you? How were you feeling? Did you feel content being surrounded by other college students that more than likely did not have the same life experiences as you?
Speaker 1:No, at first, like I don't, like I would go to the Veterans Center and I would hear these veterans bitch complain about the students and that they don't. Oh, they don't know shit. You know know, they don't even fucking all this and that. And I'm like, bro, like you, joined to fight for your country, they're part of your country, and now you're upset that they don't. They don't have your shared experiences, correct? Not everyone in the world is going to have your shared experiences, so I was like you know what? I'm going to learn as much as I can from each one.
Speaker 2:Damn bro. That's a good attitude and a good mindset you have.
Speaker 1:And, bro, I learned a lot in the military, but I learned just as much with each semester, with those professors, those students, and learned about myself, man, because you know I was taking, you know, human anatomy classes, organic chemistry, biochemistry, a lot of psychology classes, because you have to be able to talk to people Right and you're trying to tell them on how to eat, and a lot of it's psychological and intercommunication classes, so how to communicate with people. So I'm learning about myself. And I was never like, oh, these people, fuck these people. I did almost right away notice like man, some of these people don't even know we're still there, cause I remember, bro, I remember I remember I was like, hey, I said something like, oh, yeah, you know, I was in, I was in the army, and then they were like, oh, you, like I was there, like damn, you didn't go to war, did you? And I was like, damn, you didn't go to war, did you? And I was like what? Yeah, I was like I went to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Speaker 2:They're like and one of them was like, oh, I didn't know we were still there and I was like, yeah, that's a trip dude. When it comes to dietitian, do you think America has an obesity problem?
Speaker 1:100%, man, I mean you got 50% and or above of adults are either overweight or obese. Uh, now it's. Uh, unless I'm mistaken, the numbers are around similar when it comes to children. Um, and you know, americans, uh, they underestimate the amount of calories they consume and they overestimate the amount of calories they burn. Like, oh, I went to the gym and I ran for like 20 minutes, you're like, and because I kind of know the math already, I'm like, bro, that's not even half a bag of hot Cheetos dog.
Speaker 2:You can't out-train a bad diet.
Speaker 1:You know you can't, unless you're like some crazy ultra marathon runner who's running David Goggins, like David Goggins, david Goggins can probably, and I follow some of these people. One of them is this lady and her fucking. She's like I like to eat nachos and skittles but she doesn't fucking look like it because she's running ultra hundreds of miles, you know. So, yeah, man, it's, it's, it's we.
Speaker 2:we eat too much processed food like crazy amount sugar what's your take on americans as far as where we have come from being cavemen, hunting, hunters and gatherers to where we are at now?
Speaker 1:uh, we're slowly losing our way. We are getting too comfortable, too soft. Um, you know, guys, uh are not learned. They don't even know basic fucking skills like, uh, I don't know a lot of these skills, but I didn't have some of the skills like, hey, man, like my dad growing up he was, so they had to learn all this shit. Like anything plumbing, I'll fix it. Electrical, I got it the car, let me work on it. Oh, I can't work on that, someone else is going to work on it. And they knew all these skills. Right, he didn't go to war. He doesn't know shit about combat. Right, I trained in competing martial arts. I know, uh, I know about guns, training and all that. So we have to know something.
Speaker 2:I'm not saying know everything, but you got to know something. No, you bring up a good point, bro. Not everybody has to be a fucking warfighter, yeah, but at least have a fucking skill set. Yeah, I don't give a fuck what you do, right? Yeah, fucking work on cars, agriculture, whatever the fuck.
Speaker 1:Be good at it, something yeah and teach others and teach other your craft yeah, and technology is great, but, but it's making everything too easy, man. And look, this is why I say this is the best country in the world, because in other countries this is not an option. Why is it not an option? Because one they don't have it. They don't have technology, the resources, and also because guess, guess what they have to fucking work hard for their food still, or guess what, they have to pick up a fucking rifle to go fight, or you know? Because, like, that is the reality somewhere In 2025, that is happening right now. Some fucking kid doesn't have time to fuck around and get fat and be lazy and watch TV all day because, guess what, he has to fucking work to eat, or he's got to fight because someone's trying to kill his people.
Speaker 2:Do you encourage Americans to be prepared?
Speaker 1:Yeah, but there's a fine line, because I'm not some crazy fucking maniac with my gun pointed at the door ready for somebody to come to my house, I'm not somebody fucking storing a bunch of fucking food and and, but you got to be prepared. You got to life, you know, fuck around here and there, but you got to be prepared. Like when covid happened, people were like, um, oh, are you stockpiling? I was like no, um, they're like, why not? You're not scared? I was like, look, let me tell you something. If it really is that bad, if it really is to the point where, if you stockpile is the only way you're going to survive, guess what, for years and my friends and I have these skills and if it is that bad, guess what, we're gonna take it. Absolutely, bro, I fucking feel the same way yeah and then, and if not, guess what?
Speaker 1:a lot of my friends guess what. They know how to fish. Right, we know how to fish. We know how to hunt. Oh, you don't know how to do that. Why not? What are you doing with your time? You don't know how to defend yourself. What are you doing with your time? Oh, or, at least you don't have the financial resources to stockpile or pay somebody to do that. What are you doing with your time? I prepare my kids. I, I my kids compete and train in jujitsu, especially my girls. Cause I tell my girls, like, look, I love you, but the reality is you're not going to be with me every day in your life, so later I have to leave you to go out in the world and I have to get you prepared as much as I can.
Speaker 1:So if something does happen, you have a fighting stance or chance or something hopefully doesn't happen, because you're not going to be a victim, you're going to be someone who's prepared. Um, same with my son and then same with their education. I prepare them as much as I can. I don't fucking instill fear into them, and that's where I don't like people in our community. Sometimes, when I see them how they interact with their kids, I'm like, bro, you're putting fear into your fucking kids and then you yourself, how you carry yourself Like bro, enjoy life. You're going to get old one day and you're going to be like man. Probably I should have enjoyed life a little bit more. I shouldn't have been this prepared, extreme, stockpiling, fucking maniac.
Speaker 2:Well, because it's almost like fluff, like they're doing just the fluff on the outside without actually developing any fucking skill sets. Bro, it's it's. Do you perceive the world to be a dangerous place? I think it always has been.
Speaker 1:I think, I think, I think the world has always been somewhat of a dangerous place. I don't, I don't. The world isn't a Disney movie where every day it's fucking nice and smiles and the animals are talking to you and they're fluffy. But the reality is something can happen and if you train or prepare yourself, not all the time, but just enough that if something does happen, then you're not fucking caught off guard. Like, for example, I ask people okay, in your car? We spend a lot of time in our cars. A lot of people are overweight. They don't, they don't have exercise. Let's say here we're in california or northgate happens and you're 30 miles away from your house. Do you have a gold bag at least in your car? Nothing crazy, just some water bottle and some snacks. If you work um in in the office and you have dress shoes, you want to be 20 miles away from your house and the roads are blocked and you have to walk in dress shoes into the ladies high heels, right. Or you're in sandals, like some dude wears sandals all day.
Speaker 2:He's like okay, so then what if they say to you oh, we'll just call an uber we're like homie, the earthquakes happened and all the fucking, what are you gonna?
Speaker 1:is that what you're gonna do? And then you, we, when we train people, we talk to them about this stuff, when we teach them survival skills, and then people tell us like, oh, like. Sometimes I see people and I'm like, damn bro, how much weight did you lose? You're like, yeah, I lost 15 pounds. That's what's up, dude. You know now, now I in our car for my kids and I I like your parenting style, bro, when we were talking about.
Speaker 2:When we see youth today, sometimes we can say like, oh, their parents failed them, right? That's not always the case, right? Yeah, do you think the majority of parents in America today are doing a great job of raising their children?
Speaker 1:No, and I don't have to be inside every single house in America to note that, overall, american parents right now are failing their kids Because let's go over some facts uh, the you got 50 or more of of adults or overweight, which means 50 or more of parents or overweight. A lot of the kids are overweight or obese, right, um, which means they're failing them in that way of teaching them what you know nutrient dense food is. You know, yeah, you got to eat foods. You got to eat your vegetables. Chicken, yes, hey, let's eat some ice cream every now and then. Let's eat some pizza every now and then, for sure, it's hey, birthday cake, hell yeah, but we can't be eating like this every single day. You know you have a lot of mental health issues and people aren't playing as much Like.
Speaker 1:Back in the day it was hard to keep your kids in the fucking house. Right Now it's like I hear it so many times. I can't get the kid to get the fuck out of the house and I hear all this stuff like, oh, my kid's a picky eater. They're a picky eater and I'm like, no, you feed them. You know what my five-year-old? Two of her favorite snacks are Seaweed and peas Like edamame.
Speaker 2:Now people might think that sounds crazy. But I totally understand it, bro. Because my daughter eats healthy as fuck dude, I'll offer her a soda. She will not drink soda. I offer her candy, she won't eat it, because she's like I'm good, my kids don't drink soda we've offered them after a while, like, hey, you want to try soda and they try it.
Speaker 1:They're like I don't like this. This morning you know what we did as a family, because I believe that kids learn more from what they see the parents do than what the parents yell at them constantly about. This morning we woke up at 5 am. Um, today is a is a weekday. My kids have school. We drove to our strength conditioning coach's house um, he has a little gym set up in his garage, uh, and we trained strength and conditioning family strength and conditioning. We woke up at five, went to go do that, gave the kids breakfast, took them off school and I'm sure they enjoy it.
Speaker 2:Yeah right, because I don't want the public to think, oh, this guy is forcing his kids to live his lifestyle. That's not the fucking case, bro, because I do not force my daughter to do shit nope, you, you have to, you know, build them up to it.
Speaker 1:I didn't do that one day. People always ask me all the time like, hey, how did you get your kids to wake up so early? I was like I didn't go from nothing to one day be like, hey, you, 5 am or waking up. It was like we go on family hikes Right, they do jujitsu. I do the adult jujitsu class afterwards, we do strength and conditioning on the weekends at 10 am or whatever. And then, guess what, I wake them up at 5, but my kids are in bed by 8.
Speaker 2:That's another thing. Your kids are in bed by 8. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:This whole like oh, they're up late every single day, that's not a thing in my house. Like they had already brushed their teeth. They already took a shower to my five-year-old, we already read her a book and they're in fucking bed.
Speaker 2:And you know what the problem is, man? It's like, well, what do you give a fuck how I raise my kids?
Speaker 1:like well, yeah, until they end up in fucking prison, then I gotta watch their fucking ass yeah, until guess what, until they link up with my fucking kids, and then and then and then I have to hear it from my kids or I have to see it like this fucking shit bag. You know how many times I've seen shit situations at my school because my, my son, uh plays, he plays the violin. He's always either my all my kids, student of the month, student of the year, their art goes into the district art show, uh, they do all this stuff. So they're a little bit more not a little bit a lot more mature physically and mentally than regular fucking kids. And I see the shit that they have to deal with and I'm just like God damn it.
Speaker 1:And I'm like okay, it's not the kid's fault, it's the fucking dad, you know how many times I've had daydreams of like I'm going to see this dad and I'm going to have to tell him like hey, man, I'm not attacking you or anything, but like how your kid is, I'm going to be like that with you.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:And then if all of a sudden that's assault, then maybe you should teach your kid not to do shit. Just because they can doesn't mean they should. If somebody cuts me off in the freeway just because I can and I have the skills to raid their house at two in the morning Doesn't mean I should. And just because your son is this overweight piece of shit and wants to pick on my son, you need to teach him that he probably shouldn't. Cause, guess what? Now I'm going to be in your face Right and now and now let's play how they play. I'm going to play that with you.
Speaker 2:Damn dude, let's play how they play. I'm gonna play that with you damn dude, have you experienced that?
Speaker 1:like well, yeah, well, one time I had to go into into my the school to talk to the principal and the principal was like look, it's not either your son that they're picking on it's. They pick on everybody. Like these kids are fucking, they pick on everybody. And I had to tell my son like my son is a sweet boy and he wants everybody to be his friend and he wants to be friends with everybody, I told aj.
Speaker 1:I was like, look, man, not everyone's gonna want to be your friend. This has nothing to do with you, it's just. This is just how they are. And I was like, look, aj, I you see what I do right and and I you don't, I'm not a violent person or anything like that, but but I put you in jujitsu and striking because to defend yourself. No, I was told. I was like, look, I don't like it when, if I have to do something, I don't like that feeling. But I understand that I have to do it right. And I'm like, aj, you have to stand up for yourself and that's why you, you, I put you in these programs.
Speaker 1:And then one day I was picking him up and and my son's walking really fast and he goes, he goes. I need to talk, to need to talk to you in the car, and the way I am, I was like no fuck that we're talking right now he goes. Oh, we were playing soccer and I took the ball, fair and square, from this kid named Jordan, and then I was going to go make a score on the opposite side and Jordan came up to me, punched me in the stomach and took the ball away from me and and he goes. So then I ran up and then, uh, he goes. I snapped him down to the ground and then a snap down is like a jujitsu wrestling you snap them and he goes. I snapped them down and I said I hope you had enough. And then, and then I was like and then what happened? He, this just happened right now. And he goes, yeah. And so this was Thursday.
Speaker 1:The next day I had to go to the range to do a private training to teach somebody, um, some shooting things and and and I was like fuck, I'm signals Not that great. At the range I was like fuck. And I was like so I talked to AJ, cause AJ was like dad, what, what do I do the next day if he wants to fight me? And I was like, look, you have your personal space If he, if he, crosses this barrier, you have to understand look, you don't want to, but he's going to hit you.
Speaker 1:So you need to hit him or you need to take him down and then control him and then have a teacher come. But you, aj, there's this barrier that if he crosses you, you, there's this barrier that if he crosses you, you have to hit him or you have to do something. And I was like, look, you might get trouble at school. And I was like, no, you will get in trouble at school, right, but you're not gonna get in trouble with me, right? He goes, I'm not gonna ground you, I'm not gonna do you anything. So then, uh, as soon as I get signal, I call my wife and I'm like hey, what are you guys doing?
Speaker 1:yeah and she goes oh, nothing. So and so, and I was like, how's everybody in the good? They're just doing their homework? And I was like, okay, so I get home and I tell my son. I was like, hey, what happened? And he's like, oh, he goes. Oh, jordan wasn't there. And I was like, okay, so then monday comes, and then I had to be at the range again. So when I come home.
Speaker 1:Um, I was like hey, jill, what happened? He goes, oh, he goes. I think jordan forgot, because when he saw me he even said hi. I was like no, no, he didn't forget. Correct. What happened was now he. Now he knows that he can't fuck with you and he's going to keep fucking with other kids, right, but he knows that you'll stand up for yourself and he doesn't like that I want you to elaborate the differences between, like a bully and somebody who uses force to self-defense, as you just stated yeah, so you know, and this is what I don't like, and we see, we even see grown men, right?
Speaker 1:absolutely and and they're, and they're bullies. They're bullies online, they're bullies maybe even in person, but the difference between some of these guys are strong. Yeah, the you know. Sometimes people say, oh, the bully's the weak guy inside, and so on. But once they get to adults, uh, some of them might be strong, some of them might be training or whatever.
Speaker 1:But just because you can do something like pick on somebody or do something or do this, and that, that doesn't necessarily mean that you should, but those bullies won't understand that. And then that's where somebody with with honor and some type of values and a certain mindset is like you know what? I'm going to stand up to them because I have to do it for all the other people that can't do it for themselves, or I have to do it for myself, so you won't fuck with me. So that right there is. I think what most men should be like is train, do all this, be able to do all this stuff, but don't do it at all unless you have to, unless there is a moment that you truly have to.
Speaker 2:You never worked in a jail or a prison, right? Nope, what have I told you? That correctional officers today not all of them, not all of them, a good majority are scared, tim, timid and do not stand up to the inmates when being confronted I'm not surprised.
Speaker 1:I am not surprised based on how the us has men overall.
Speaker 1:And then you got some dude who joins and then, and then I'm not surprised to see that, because you see that in cops I train a lot of cops, I train a lot of SWAT teams, sheriffs and they tell us, like yo, some of these fucking dudes who are signing up, not just we don't only I'm not saying just we have problem with the women, because sometimes we have problem with the women too but even some of these dudes are scared to pull the gun out or or scared to put hands on, or they're not even prepared physically, mentally, to put hands on, or they're not even prepared physically, mentally, to put hands on.
Speaker 1:And I'm like, bro, you decided to, you want to do this job to protect people, and I'm not sure if you knew what the fuck this entitled. It means you. It means you're dealing with the garbage of our population and you have to deal with that. And you're telling me you're not ready, like you're going to, you're going to get yourself killed, you're going to get someone else killed, you're going to get yourself hurt or someone else hurt.
Speaker 2:Now what if they told you hey, man, it's because we're afraid to get fired because of the policies and the law and the politics.
Speaker 1:Well, that might be true. And if that is true, I've seen it and I agree Politicians have put a you know, not just one, but both hands tied behind the back of law enforcement, because I remember we had this reelection dinner up in Beverly Hills for that LA sheriff. He didn't win, but Villanova. I remember I walked up to him and I shook his hand and I told him I was like hi, my name is Andrew Cortez, I'm a former, I'm a former uh army ranger. Before I was a former army, before I was a ranger, I was a gang member and I told him right now, based on the policies that are in place, I will call this the golden age of crime, because back then, when we had to do things in the dark or be secret or sneaky about it, these guys can do it in broad daylight and they're not even fucking scared of their repercussions.
Speaker 2:At all. There are no repercussions.
Speaker 1:And there are no repercussions. And I was like this is the golden age for crime and I said that back in during his before his reelection.
Speaker 2:When it comes to consequences and rewards and you being a father. How do you incorporate that into your children?
Speaker 1:So everything is earned. Everything is earned, Like, for example, and it's got to be at a certain time and, as much as I hate it, the consequences have to come. But I talk to them every single time. I've talked to my kids like adults since they were day one and they're not going to understand it that first day, second day, first year, third year, but you will be talking to them a certain way that by the time they're like 9, 10, 11, 12, they know exactly what you mean and you know some of the rewards, like, for example, my son and my daughter brought me grades, excellent grades. They're such good teacher I mean students that sometimes we don't even have parent teacher conferences oh, dude, that's crazy.
Speaker 2:I would just want to have one, just to have him hear him tell me that my grade well as a matter of fact, this is funny.
Speaker 1:This past year we had one for our daughter and I remember, as we were driving, I was like remember thinking like man, we fucked up, like what happened? And bro, finding parking, parking, walking and doing the small talk with the teacher lasted longer than us talking about our child. Damn dude. They were like, oh, she's great, she's great, she's a great helper, this and that.
Speaker 2:That's awesome, dude. That's a reflection of you.
Speaker 1:And my wife too.
Speaker 2:And my wife Correct correct the parents.
Speaker 1:But that's hard work and that's every single day Saturday, sunday, monday. Sometimes we get days off as parents cause we go out or whatever, but we have put our energy. Our main focus is the kids and so the how I do, how I work, the rewards, it's okay, you got good grades, all right. Um, what do you want? My son for a while had Lego sets or whatever. Um, my, my daughter wanted to play softball. So we're like, all right, let's go play softball. And we say, because I'm like it costs money and let them know the amount that something costs, like, hey, not just like, oh, we got all the money in the world, we can do whatever yeah and then consequences.
Speaker 1:You know, I as much as I hate it, um, I grew up getting hit, so that was the consequence. And I remember, I remember, oh, but there's a difference between abuse and then maybe giving them a spanking. And then I remember one time my son was younger and I raised my hand to him and I saw this look of fear in his face and I remember thinking like, fuck man, you know what? That's probably how I was every single day growing fucking up and I'm like I don't want that for my kids, right? So then I would talk to them.
Speaker 1:I was like, look, you're doing this, you're going to get yourself in trouble and I'm going to take things away. And then I'm going to, I'm going to like in the army, the military is a great way of punishing you, which in doing like the most silly things. So sometimes I'd be you not to do that. Go, go, stand and go stare at the wall. And then I'll just keep them there. And then, or I'll take things away, because now they have xboxes, now they got phones, right, and I'll be like I'm gonna take it away, like for how? And then I'll tell them two days, you can, you can't have this.
Speaker 1:Or when they get to jujitsu, all the kids usually play yeah and I'll be like no, you sit down here and then everyone's playing. They're like oh, oh, hey, jake or whatever, ari, come and play. They're like. No, they're like, why not Tell them? Tell them why you can't play. Yeah bro, I'm holding them accountable.
Speaker 2:Fuck yeah, Accountability, dude yeah. Do you believe Americans lack accountability?
Speaker 1:100%, yeah, I mean, and not just Americans. I think this is a problem that I've seen is extreme. Accountability is very hard, because you have to then admit to yourself oh fuck, I'm fucking up or I'm being lazy or you know, cause I tell people you have to hold yourself accountable for all the things you fail to do and all the things you do accomplish. So when you accomplish something, be happy, admire your work and then move on, cause the last thing you want to do is be the things you do accomplish, correct. So when you accomplish something, be happy, admire your work and then move on, because the last thing you want to do is be that high school football star who's 50, talking about high school days. I know I've done a lot of cool things, but what is next? Right. And then if I fuck up, you know I'll be like damn it, man, I messed up, I fucked up, and to admit that to yourself is hard, and people don't do that. And then, and then you know what's even harder than that to admit it out loud.
Speaker 2:Do you have a problem doing that? Nope. Admitting your mistakes? Nope I.
Speaker 1:As a matter of fact, I'll give you one. That happened yesterday. Um, my daughter, my five-year-old daughter, put put, uh, we were eating, uh, chili in the living room and she spilled on her shirt and my wife was just like, yeah, just take off your shirt and so it doesn't get any more dirty, because it's hard to get chili off. And then our cat was opened up by the blinds and I was like, hey, the blinds are open and we have our five-year-old with no shirt on, you know. And I raised my voice and Aaliyah was in front of our kids. She was like you know, she goes, he goes, yeah, I, she goes.
Speaker 1:I didn't know that the windows weren't open like that. You know, I wouldn't have had her like that. Right, people can walk by by sidewalk and she goes, it's the way you said it. And I was like, well, I don't did say it in the not the nicest tone. And and if I communicate like that in front of my kids to me, that tells my son, that's how you speak to your wife and then to my daughters, that's me saying that's how men speak to you, or that's how it should be, that's how they should be allowed to, and I don't want to tell her like, showing her like though that's acceptable, and then in front of everybody, because the next episode Of the office was going to be next. So there was that like law of no talking, yeah, and I was like.
Speaker 1:I was like you know what, babe? Yeah, I did say my tone was bad. I'm sorry I shouldn't have said that like that. And you know what she did. She came around the table, gave me a kiss and we went back to watching tv.
Speaker 2:That's awesome dude.
Speaker 1:I commend you for doing that, bro and but before, before all that, you know, before years and years ago, like that, it wasn't like that correct. What helped me was certain people, certain mentorship um, fucking therapy and psychedelic therapy psychedelic.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the micro dosing uh, no, there's, yeah, there's micro dosing and there's like heavy extreme doses, and that's what I did in a professional setting and that really, really helped me a lot. Was it like? A? One time I did four sessions of of high doses of ketamine in a in a professional setting, and then I've also done micro dosing of mushrooms and I've also done DMT.
Speaker 2:Now, that was all part of therapy.
Speaker 1:Um the ketamine. It was in a professional setting. Right, the DMT was on. It was in a professional setting.
Speaker 2:Right. The DMT was on my own. What are the medical results of that?
Speaker 1:Like, how does it help? Like, for example, the high doses of my first experience. I remember I thought I died. I remember, you know, I thought about my family. I remember thinking like, man, I haven't, I didn't get to tell my family how much I really loved them. And then, when you get out of your experience, I remember I was waking up and I felt something going down my face and then I realized it was tears and at some point I had started crying.
Speaker 1:And when I went home after the experience, I remember I was so mentally tired I went to bed and the next day I woke up and I, my wife, was cooking and I and I she was cooking eggs and I told her, um, I was like, hey. I was like, hey, stop. I was like I was like, come over here, let me talk to you, yeah, and and um, I remember I told her I was like, because this was during the start of me, trying to be a better version of myself, the best version of myself, right, and and I had done therapy before and I try to, you know, manage my, get good amount of sleep, because we need sleep, nutrition, fitness and all that communication. And then I told her I was like, look, I realized that the version that you've gone through all my entire military career and stuff like that was not the best version of myself. I realized that I put you last. Uh, throughout my entire military career and even, sometimes even post my military career, you weren't even second, third or fourth, you were dead last. Um, you know, I'm sorry, uh, I wish, uh, I, you know I had not done that, you know, and, and I want to be the best version of myself, you know. And then, and then that shocked her, you know, because she's, she was like, she was in shock and she was like she was like there was things I wanted to tell you, but I just didn't want to tell you. When you hear them, I wanted you to feel them.
Speaker 1:And then to my son my son was born when I was in Afghanistan and my daughter was born when I was away too. So, my son, I had told him I was like this was happening right during summer and I told AJ, my daughter, and my five-year-old was already born by that. She wasn't five, but I was like AJ and Ari, I was like mostly AJ, I was like mostly aj. I was like, look, I realize I don't really know you guys. I realize I don't know, like you, you're deep who you really are and I want to. I want to take this summer to really get to know you. And my son has started crying and he goes, he goes, he goes. That makes me happy to say that.
Speaker 1:And I knew there was a disconnect between him and I. I knew it. Yeah, we would be sitting down watching movies and if I was close to him on his shoulder and he would kind of like go to the side and I'd be like look and tell my wife, he's like no, he's just trying to give you your space. But then after that, him and I were like this that's good, dude, because I, you know, overseas or I was training or something. By the time I got out he was five and I had done the math I'd been almost three years away from him and only been two years with him.
Speaker 2:Damn dude, you know so, but now you're very present in his life A hundred percent, that's good.
Speaker 1:And, like I said, psychedelics helped me with that Cause it just confirmed what I was already feeling. At that point. I was already like, hey, I want to get to to know my kids, but I didn't know how to do it. It's kind of weird, right to realize, hey, I have a seven-year-old. I don't really know how do I, how do I do this, how do I do that? And then, guess what, just talk to them and tell them that, tell them that. So that's what I did. I told him that and then, you know, he understood. And then I what do you want to do? You want to build legos? Let's build legos. You, what do you want?
Speaker 2:to do? You want to build.
Speaker 1:Legos, let's build Legos. What do you want to do? You want to go watch this movie, let's watch this movie. And then what I like to do is I take them on hikes and then not, not after, not until like after the first 45 minutes. Then I just ask them questions and by that time you've already been hiking for a while. And then you're like, hey, know, what do you want to do when you grow up? Or you know, hey, what do you think about teachers? Or or your teachers, or school, and sometimes, bro, I even ask them for like a progress report. Be like, hey, how do you think I am as a dad?
Speaker 1:oh shit, that's such a good idea, man, and then they'll tell me you know and sometimes I have to clarify some things that are right that because you don't know how they see you, and sometimes they'll be like, oh, dad, you, sometimes you're like really strict, and I'll be like like how, and I don't get mad at what they say, I always say like how he goes. Well, you know, we don't want to eat the vegetables and you make us eat the vegetables and I'm like and, and I tell them that, oh, I'm like well, because they're good for you. I don't tell them go eat your vegetables. I'm like you have to eat the vegetables because they're good for you. They have these nutrients. So, yeah, they may not taste that well, but I have to make you do that Right, or they'll be like oh, sometimes you yell you know a lot and like really loud, and I'm like, and I have this bad habit of yelling instead of going to go get them.
Speaker 1:So if they're in the room, I yell, and Aaliyah didn't grow up like that, so I did. Your parents would always yell at you. So then I'm getting in the habit of walking to their room and be like hey, aj, hey Ari, or something.
Speaker 1:And they'd be like you know what? That's right. I never thought about it Like, oh, they're taking it as me fucking yelling at them and I wouldn't have known that if I didn't ask him.
Speaker 2:That makes sense, dude. So now you train out of beverly hills as a facility yeah, so we have our training facility is called training center.
Speaker 1:La, we have um, we do our. We have gi, who john john machado teaches that course. So if people don't know who john john machado is, he's the one. He's a very famous people don't know who John John Machado is. He's the one. He's a very famous jujitsu practitioner. He's the one who gave Joe Rogan his black belt. Um, we have Muay Thai, um, no gi grappling. And we also have our gunsmithing um, um and partner Arlie arms. So they're the ones who make our guns and we shoot. So you can, you can give them something like a basic lock and he can can make it the best Glock ever.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Or you know you can manufacture your own rifle and we do. We have a VR training system. We have those unit solution hardcore airsoft guns that we do, room clearing, home defense firearms, fundamental classes, because we have training classes for the basic beginner to advance.
Speaker 2:Can anybody attend those classes?
Speaker 1:anybody, yes so anybody can walk into our facility and ask about a class or just walk around. We have public training. So that's all non-live fire right but we also have a membership at this private indoor range where we can do some shooting there, but we can. We also have um a membership at these private indoor range where we can do some shooting there, but we can. We also have access to an outdoor range Um, that's a private outdoor range that we can do more dynamic stuff.
Speaker 1:And you also train military, uh, law enforcement agencies, yeah, so we actually train like kids single moms who've never owned a gun, but now they want to, you know, be their own protector. Who've never owned a gun, but now they want to, you know, be their own protector. The, your average two way individual veterans, you know, movie stars, sheriffs, swat teams and then sometimes even triple letter agencies Damn bro, and we're all. We're all either former or active duty special operation guys. So, yeah, either Navy SEALs or Army Rangers.
Speaker 2:What's your favorite weapon of choice? Dude. Well, now a Glock, a Glock, yeah, any Glock, or do you have a specific?
Speaker 1:favorite. Well, my Glock, your Glock. Yeah, it's all souped up. It's not your standard. Nine millimeter.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that's your favorite. Yeah, sir, and it's an extension of your body.
Speaker 1:Yep, and then obviously your rifle. But what I'm really getting into is my shotgun. Really, yeah, benelli man, because a shotgun when I was active duty, it was just a boring breaching tool. Everybody wanted to go explosive, right, fuck yeah, blow the door up. Blow the door up, right, why shoot it? But now you know, I'm getting real quick with my, with my dual loads, quads, even my single loads, and, and it's a very versatile tool, man like I've hit things up to 90 meters with a slug, no problem. And and and when you, because it has so many specialty rounds, right, right, you can do buckshot slug. So you have it's got different capabilities.
Speaker 2:What weapon system would you advise a regular home owner to own for home defense?
Speaker 1:For home defense. Man, that's a tricky one Because people, you always go for the shotgun, for the shotgun, shotgun, I think, just a pistol man, a, a, you don't even have to get crazy, you can just get a pistol train on it. Um, you know, because you need something that when something goes bump at night you can just grab, and that's easy. You don't. For ladies, a rifle or shotgun might be too heavy. Or for dudes, sometimes they might forget to manipulate and make sure to rack it or send the bull forward or whatever. A pistol, especially if you have your night sights, you just line up those three dots at night. Who knows your house better than you do?
Speaker 2:right, cool dude. So where can they find? Uh, you have a website for that DSG, or yeah?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so if you Google defense strategies group, we'll pop up um training center LA uh, it's in Beverly Hills. We we run courses, uh, mostly in LA. Sometimes we do go um outside, and that's usually when agencies or departments call us to go to um Texas.
Speaker 2:And that's usually when agencies or departments call us to go to Texas, New York. What about OG Pumpkin?
Speaker 1:Instagram. Yeah, so OG Pumpkin is the underscore OG, underscore, pumpkin, or if you just Google OG Pumpkin, a bunch of stuff comes up. I didn't talk too much about it, but I do a lot of veteran and low-income community work because that's where my heart is at, even though we have a training facility in Beverly Hills, doing that stuff is actually where my heart is at, even though we have a training facility in beverly hills, doing that stuff is what actually is where my heart is. Um, so a come support, come to an event or buy something, and a lot of the proceeds just go to doing events for the community, which I'm gonna start working on doing my um a non-profit to become a non-profit on the side, because people are like bro, this is my wife. Even if you ask her, she's like yo, og pumpkin is basically a non-profit.
Speaker 1:You give all the money away. Um, so I'm gonna start a non-profit because sometimes people or um businesses want to give me money to do more events or help my cause, but once they find out that I'm not a non-profit, they, oh shit, I didn't know that. Yeah, well, I didn't know that either. Well, now I do so cool dude.
Speaker 2:Well, I want to thank you for coming on the show, bro. I respect you as a man, bro, as a father of the vet dude, and it was a fucking pleasure getting to know you, dude thank you, man.
Speaker 1:This was fun. This was fun. We should do it again later on for sure, bro.
Speaker 2:Round two, yes, sir. Well, there you guys have it, folks. Man, we talked a lot about. We talked a lot about a lot of different things, man, most importantly, parenting. Parenting is what the biggest takeaway I took, man, why? Because our future depends on it. So if you guys like what you saw, make sure you hit that subscribe button. Love you guys, keep pushing forward.
Speaker 1:Unhinged line Hector's legend engraved.
Speaker 2:Living life raw. Never been tamed From the hood to the pen. Truth entails pen. Hector Bravo unhinged Story never ends.
